The UK, Europe and Australia have magpies. I don't know about the rest of the world.
However the Australian magpie is very different to the northern hemisphere magpies. The northern hemisphere magpie is a member of the corvid family, that's crows. The Aussie magpie is a member of the artamidae family.
Here is the Eurasian magpie, from Birds of the World.
I can see why early white folk in Australia would have called our bird a magpie, but they really are quite different to the Euro magpie.
Wherever you are in the country, and often enough in the city, as dawn breaks you will hear the call of magpies, a delightful warbling sound as they greet each other at the dawn of day.
This clip is by Peter Virag.
They can become quite tame by feeding them, although it is illegal to feed native birds and animals. It is not a law that's enforced. However, come the time of year in the spring when the magpies have babies, look out. The male will swoop any animal that he perceives as a threat, and you are an animal. This is not a vague frighten you away swoop. He will make contact with your scalp or face, and you will bleed, with the worst case, eye damage.
Here is a photo of a cyclist wearing magpie protection.
To summarise, we love our Australian magpies, in spite of the brief period of the year when the males will swoop, and there is no connection to the European magpie.
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I love the song - it's very musical.
ReplyDeleteJB, such a nice sound to hear as you become conscious in the morning.
DeleteI love that helmet. Slowly catching up with your prolific posts in my blog absence.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
Good to have you back WWW.
DeleteThat helmet would be very useful here as protection against our seagulls, especially when eating an ice cream or sandwich outside in the open air.
ReplyDeleteJayCee, yes, your seagulls are more aggressive than ours. Our kookaburra is the one to be concerned about here as food snatchers.
DeleteAnd of course the most beloved magpies of all - Collingwood!
ReplyDeleteI dislike magpies BECAUSE of Collingwood :)
DeleteThat's a bit unfair to the birds.
DeleteOh dear, footy love and hate is kicking off.
DeleteI loved this post. I love hearing about the birds and critters in your country. That helmet is a hoot.
ReplyDeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
Sandra, most helmets are just bike helmets with plastic ties sticking up, but there are now proper ones on sale.
DeleteToo funny. I love magpies and find them entertaining but the are noisy. This is what our's sound like.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYLL7tqZWXc
Thanks Pixie, the black magpie. The sound is quite different and quite nice too. It is a chatter kind of sound.
DeleteAs I am reading this I am listening to my resident maggies singing away.
ReplyDeleteSo far the locals seem friendly enough - no swooping - but I do make a point of greeting them whenever I see them.
Merlot, apparently talking to them does help to avoid being attacked. Occasionally feeding them means you'll never be swooped.
DeleteVery chatty birds.
ReplyDeleteKirk, what do they talk about each morning? Who slept with whom last night?
DeleteAustralian magpie looks meaner
ReplyDeleteAnd probably is, Roentare.
DeleteTotally love magpies, the warbling is magnificent. When I was hiking in WA, their magpies were a little different looking to our Victorian magpies. Marie, Cheltenham
ReplyDeleteThat's very interesting Marie. There is a very large long hot and desolate between our eastern states and WA. So I suppose I am not surprised.
DeleteWhat an interesting sound. I've just checked ms google and apparently we have magpies in Missouri. I don't recall ever seeing one. The picture looks very different to the two you have pictured.
ReplyDeleteDeb, they are totally different to your magpies, and if there was ever an historic connection between the two species, it would be thousands of years ago.
DeleteDo you remember this song?
ReplyDelete(At page 5.)
No, I don't MC.
DeleteThey are quite a vocal bird, aren't they? I don't remember ever seeing on here, but when we were leaving the airport in Birmingham UK, there was a large flock of them outside the airport, and I knew what they were right away.
ReplyDeleteDebby, yes that would the European maggies, quite different to ours. You haven't mentioned your daughter of late. I hope all is well with her.
DeleteI love Magpies.
ReplyDeleteYour magpies are different Dora, but interesting too.
DeleteThere were magpies when I lived in California but i haven't seen any on this side of the US!
ReplyDeleteBob, I would have thought your magpies would be fairly well everywhere where the climate is ok.
DeleteThe Australian magpie has a nice whistle/call always recognized.
ReplyDeleteTasmanian magpies are not as vicious at their egg time as the mainland ones, so my book says. I've seen mainland magpies single out a family and try to attack that family every time one of them goes outside the family had to use an umbrella to get from point A to point B, rather funny to watch.
Margaret, maybe yours don't feel as threatened as ours here. Once they have a set against someone, they continue every time the people are seen by them.
DeleteThat's so true Andrew.
Delete2nd bite: Australian choughs (which are corvids) are more like Eurasian magpies than Australian magpies are.
ReplyDeleteMC, I've never heard of them, and I don't know how to pronounce the name. I must check if they are regional or widespread.
DeleteChuff. They're a forest and woodland bird and they don't really do well in built-up areas, though you see them in Canberra. I have never seen them in Sydney. They're fun to watch. They sweep across their feeding area in a line alongside each other and have a kind of hopping gait while they are on the ground. Like magpies (AU) they are named after an unrelated European bird.
DeleteI hope EC tuned in to listen. "My" magpies don't sing when on the ground, I hear them up in the trees instead and always call out "hello Maggie" as well as saying hello when they are on the ground. I don't feed them anymore and never fed much anyway, but always talking to them helps them recognise me and if they know you and see you are never a threat, you are far less likely to get dive-bombed. I have NEVER been dive-bombed.
ReplyDeleteThat's the way to do it, River. Make friends with them and you will be safe. You being no threat may even pass down a generation.
DeleteMagpies are intelligent birds here (and I am sure in Australia) and they play quite happily.
ReplyDeleteThelma, both species seem to have great qualities.
DeleteI love to hear the maggies. There was a breeding pair at my workplace a few years ago, it was a treat to see the almost grown babies chasing mum around for food.
ReplyDeleteKylie, they seem to keep pestering their mother for food well into their adolescence.
DeleteOf course they make the noise every day, but I only ever notice their sounds on Sunday morning. I suspect they're responding to Macca :)
ReplyDeleteYou made me laugh James but I avoided sputtering wine onto my keyboard.
DeleteEuropean robins, and north American robins are entirely different species. I would imagine there are others that might look a little alike, and were misidentified by immigrants.
ReplyDeleteFascinating. The differences between the two magpies is much greater than I would have thought.
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